Homo hexis
The Greek word hexis, originally used by Aristotle, has been adopted by the Homo discens project rather than the standard Latin translation, habitus.
Hexis refers to a durable, acquired, overall disposition that is developed over the course of a lifetime. Our raw personality tendencies are not immutable. We are not slaves to our immediate inclinations. We can override them by consciously performing just acts. During the course of a lifetime everyday habits may become acquired character dispositions. Such dispositions become habitual for the individual but they are examined and reflective rather than merely conditioned.
The epiphet Homo hexis refers to character, inclination, volition and choice. It loosely equates the “good life” with the “examined life.”
We are instrumental in steering the course of our own lives. Although constrained by practical circumstances and historic contingency, to a certain degree, we remain free agents. An examined life is inextricable from the notion of a narrative self. From this perspective we are both writers and readers of our revisable autobiographies.
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The quest for a ‘good life’ is the best defense against an unexamined or a wasted life. The attempt is all. Fallible as we are, over the course of a lifetime, the deliberate cultivation of the capacity to learn as we go, in service of acting in accordance with wisdom and compassion, seems the best wager for the full development, and ‘good life,’ of the individual.
Are we the summation of the choices we have made? How much freedom of choice do we really have? Whether or not there is moral order in the universe, what is the role of contingency or “fate” in the choices that lie in front of us?
Can we lead a good life without religion? Are cathartic notions, normally associated with certain religions, like epiphany, atonement, repentance, redemption and enlightenment relevant to laying out the plot of our virtual autobiographies?
Why do we need others to talk things through?